The embodiments relate, in general, to surgical sealing and severing tools, such as a surgical stapler or endocutter, and, more particularly, to a test device for such a surgical tool.
An endocutter is a surgical stapler instrument that is capable of applying lines of staples to tissue while cutting the tissue between those staple lines. Surgical staplers have been used in the field to simultaneously make a longitudinal incision in tissue and apply lines of staples on opposing sides of the incision. Such instruments commonly include a pair of cooperating jaw members that, if the instrument is intended for endoscopic or laparoscopic applications, are capable of passing through a cannula passageway. One of the jaw members receives a staple cartridge having at least two laterally spaced rows of staples. The other jaw member defines an anvil having staple-forming pockets aligned with the rows of staples in the cartridge. The instrument includes a plurality of reciprocating wedges which, when driven distally, pass through openings in the staple cartridge and engage drivers supporting the staples to effect the firing of the staples toward the anvil.
An example of a surgical stapler suitable for endoscopic applications is described in U.S. Patent Application Publication. No. 2004/0232196 A1, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, which advantageously provides distinct closing and firing actions. Thereby, a clinician is able to close the jaw members upon tissue to position the tissue prior to firing. Once the clinician has determined that the jaw members are properly gripping tissue, the clinician can then fire the surgical stapler, thereby severing and stapling the tissue. The simultaneous severing and stapling avoids complications that may arise when performing such actions sequentially with different surgical tools that respectively only sever or staple.
It is often advantageous to build an end effector for the surgical stapler that is reusable. For instance, one patient may need a series of severing and stapling operations during a surgical procedure. Replacing an entire end effector for each operation during the procedure tends to be economically inefficient. This is especially true if the end effector is built to be strong and reliable over repeated operations. To that end, staple cartridges are fitted into the end effector prior to each operation of the surgical stapler. Thus, a much smaller amount of the surgical stapler is discarded after each use.
Further, while the staple cartridge provides numerous advantages, it is desirable to prevent inadvertent firing of the surgical stapler when an unfired staple cartridge is not present. Otherwise, the severing of tissue may occur without the staples present to minimize bleeding and/or leaking. Accordingly, some surgical staplers are equipped with a lockout mechanism to prevent firing unless an unfired staple cartridge is present. Exemplary surgical staplers including a lockout mechanism may include those described in the following documents, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their respective entireties: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/441,424, entitled SURGICAL STAPLING INSTRUMENT HAVING A SINGLE LOCKOUT MECHANISM FOR PREVENTION OF FIRING, (which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,044,352); U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/441,565, entitled SURGICAL STAPLING INSTRUMENT HAVING A SPENT CARTRIDGE LOCKOUT, (which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,988,649); U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/687,503, entitled SURGICAL STAPLING INSTRUMENT HAVING A SINGLE LOCKOUT MECHANISM FOR PREVENTION OF FIRING, (which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,380,695); U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/066,371, entitled SURGICAL STAPLING INSTRUMENT HAVING AN ELECTROACTIVE POLYMER ACTUATED SINGLE LOCKOUT MECHANISM FOR PREVENTION OF FIRING, (which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,140,528); U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/266,961, entitled LOCKOUT MECHANISMS AND SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS INCLUDING SAME, (which published as U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0102475); and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/651,788, entitled INTERLOCK AND SURGICAL INSTRUMENT INCLUDING SAME, (which published as U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0167670).
The foregoing discussion is intended only to illustrate the present field and should not be taken as a disavowal of claim scope.